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01 December 2005
Metro's "stray current" problem has not gone away
A KTRH-740 newsbreak just reported a story with which blogHOUSTON readers are familiar, thanks to the determination of Tom Bazan -- "stray current" associated with Metro's light rail.
The KTRH story said that TxDOT engineers are concerned about and examining steel support beams that could be corroded by stray current caused by what appears to be a flawed MetroRail design. The KTRH report also referenced new documents that it has obtained that show at least six locations still experiencing potential problems with the stray electrical current. Tom Bazan obtained the documents (through many, many, many...MANY open records requests) and has concerns with what is happening underneath the Texas Medical Center and underneath the Pierce Elevated.
Many thanks go out to Tom Bazan for all his hard work getting this information out to the public. God knows Metro would never willingly share it!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ stray current" problem has not gone away"> 12/01/05 04:55 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
27 April 2006
KTRH: METRO, Siemens disagree on stray-current problem
KTRH-740 reports on the ongoing concerns over stray current along the METRO rail line:
At a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, Metro has already fixed damage along the line thought to have been caused by electrical current eating away at metal bridge anchors around the tracks.
Engineers are still performing assessments, but a February report from Siemens Transportation Systems, the company that built the line, says no damage has been caused to "either utility lines or Metro facilities due to stray current."
Metro disagrees. The transportation authority says other experts have found evidence of electrical leakage at spots along the line and have suggested more tests be done.
Local METRO watchdog Tom Bazan has experienced great difficulty getting METRO to comply with his numerous public information requests on the stray-current issue, but it doesn't seem to be a problem that's going away anytime soon, especially if METRO and the contractor are now squabbling over the extent of the problem.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ stray-current problem"> 04/27/06 07:57 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (8)
11 February 2007
Light rail stray current raises concerns in San Francisco
Don Gallagher posts a San Francisco story of some local interest to the MET Yahoo Group. Here's a snippet from the reporting from San Francisco's CBS television affiliate:
Help is on the way for residents of a San Francisco neighborhood, as a CBS 5 investigation gets results. The question: Whether Muni's light rail lines could be the cause of damaged water pipes in the West Portal area. Muni now says the investigation has prompted them to take action.
Here’s what Muni spokeswoman Maggie Lynch had to say just days ago, talking about the phenomenon known as 'stray current': "We’ve had rail for 100 years and never heard of it," Lynch said.
Stray current that our experts said might be responsible for corroding water pipes. It’s something we wanted to ask her more questions about, but Lynch cut the interview short and walked out on us.
Now Muni is changing its tune: "Yes, Muni does know about stray current," engineer Bill Neilson told us.
Why the flip-flop? Neilsen said it was miscommunication. "To that I would say we're sorry that we came across as not being aware of stray current," he said.
This all sounds a little familiar. Recall that just a few months ago, METRO trotted out its (non-engineer) spokeswoman Raequel Roberts to respond to a story on stray current by KHOU-11 (Houston's CBS affiliate). She downplayed the problem, making reference to a nine-volt battery. Since then, METRO apparently has installed additional stray-current monitors, and apparently still does not have the problem under control.
Tom Bazan has kept the pressure on METRO for full disclosure of its stray current issues (and corrective action), although the organization has frequently stonewalled his efforts.
RELATED: SF muni blamed for leaking underground water pipes (KPIX-5), Stray current archives (bH).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ stray current raises concerns in San Francisco"> 02/11/07 02:13 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (5)
11 July 2005
TMC officials concerned about "stray current" damage
KTRH-740 is reporting that Texas Medical Center officials are concerned about potential damage caused by the "stray current" associated with Metro's light rail:
Texas Medical Center officials want answers from Metro about the light-rail line's "stray current" and what damage it might do as it runs through the hospital complex. The train line is apparently seeping electricity which seems to have damaged some nearby structures elsewhere along its route.
St. Luke's Hospital is building a new medical tower just 25 feet from the rail line, and the hospital's vice president, Mike Reno, says engineers are running tests to make sure the stray current won't cause serious damage.
A recent draft report from the transit authority raised concerns that the stray current could be eating away at various metal structures along the line, possibly even damaging underground utilities and pipelines. Metro has estimated that fixing the problem could cost nearly $3 million.
And Metro -- the transit agency that wants to build MORE light rail -- is still refusing to release the draft report on the "stray current" problem.
Thanks to Tom Bazan for the link.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ stray current" damage"> 07/11/05 01:56 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (7)
07 August 2007
METRO spokesperson compares stray-current problem to graffiti
METRO spokesperson Raequel Roberts, who once tried to downplay her organization's ongoing light-rail stray-current issues with references to a nine-volt battery, has become even more entertaining on the topic. Here's a recent comment to KTRH-740 reporter Bill O'Neal:
“We consider the system safe; we consider it [stray current] a non-issue at this point," Roberts said. "You might as well ask taggers if graffiti can make a bridge fall down.”
Unfortunately, it's not a non-issue, as stakeholders such as the Medical Center discovered after spending their own money to research the matter.
Nor does it require a Ph.D. in physics to understand that stray current can cause structural damage by corroding metal.
If Ms. Roberts does not understand the science of stray-current leakage and the potential problems it poses, she and METRO would be better served if she simply defers such questions to experts instead of making a fool of herself with comparisons to nine-volt batteries and graffiti taggers.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ stray-current problem to graffiti"> 08/07/07 11:40 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (14)
22 February 2007
Siemens: Stray current costs aren't our problem
Local METRO watchdog Tom Bazan's latest public information requests of the transit agency have yielded some interesting information regarding the ongoing stray-current problem.
Recall that back in November, KTRH-740 and KHOU-11 reported that nearly $1 million had been spent trying to solve the problem. A Chronicle story in December also covered the issue. All three stories gave the impression that METRO fully expects the contractor (Siemens) to reimburse it for these costs.
A letter from Siemens to METRO dated 21 November 2006 suggests that the contractor isn't nearly as amenable to reimbursing the agency for stray current costs as METRO may have suggested to local media. Here is an excerpt from the document forwarded by Bazan:
In response to METRO letter MSG-10708 dated 8/17/06, STS provides the following:
It is Siemens position that the costs delineated by METRO that may be related to stray current investigations, i.e., testing, repairs, management and any other costs that may have been incurred by METRO during the stray current investigations are considered consequential in nature. Consequential damages are expressely excluded from the Siemens/Metro Contract as stated in Article 87 .... "The contractor shall, to the extent permissible by law, be exempt from incurring consequential damages from METRO when such consequential damages relate to the performance of this contract."
In conclusion, STS is not liable for Metro's claim related to the costs incurred by METRO which may be related to stray current efforts."
It doesn't really sound as though Siemens is very receptive to METRO's suggestions that it pay back the transit organization for the growing costs of a stray-current problem that neither the contractor nor METRO seems able to fix.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Stray current costs aren't our problem"> 02/22/07 10:49 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
05 December 2005
If "stray current" isn't a problem, why did Metro balk at FOIA requests?
Today, Rad Sallee covers Metro's "stray current" problem with the light rail:
Electrical current escaping into the ground from the Metropolitan Transit Authority's light rail tracks remains a puzzle to Metro engineers. But officials of the agency say they have plugged some of the leaks and hope to find the source of the rest soon.
President and CEO Frank Wilson revealed the problem in May after CenterPoint Energy alerted Metro. The company was concerned the leakage could corrode the company's underground gas and electric conduits, Wilson said.
Electricity from power stations along the route is supposed to flow through the overhead traction wire to the train motor, then into one of the rails and back to the power station.
If rails, bridges or switches are not well insulated, power will leak into the ground and can damage metal objects such as pipes and structural steel near the rails, although such damage is generally quite slow.
In the story, a Texas Medical Center spokesman and TxDOT all pooh-pooh any problems due to stray current. And a Metro official says don't worry, be happy! Not really of course, but almost.
Isn't it comforting that Metro, having done such a fine job with 7.5 miles of light rail, gets to build more? "Quality" construction that led to stray current problems, flooding in 3 inches of rain, no mechanism to insure riders pay the fare, etc., etc. -- it really inspires confidence in Metro's capabilities.
Which leaves me to wonder why, if there is absolutely nothing to worry about, Metro stonewalled Tom Bazan for so long on open records requests for stray current documents. If everything is peachy keen and hunky dory, why not just hand over the documents, without seeking rulings from the Texas attorney general?
I'm not buying it.
RELATED: Stray current archive
Posted by Anne Linehan @ stray current" isn't a problem, why did Metro balk at FOIA requests?"> 12/05/05 07:26 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (3)
22 May 2006
Metro's continuing stray current headache
Metro's still trying to fix the problem of stray current leaking from its light rail tracks into the ground, potentially leading to the corrosion of anything metal underground. Metro learned of the problem last year from CenterPoint Energy.
Credit for this continuing sunshine goes to Tom Bazan, the Chron's Rad Sallee, and KTRH-740's Brent Fuller for not allowing Metro to sweep this problem aside:
Metro and the Texas Department of Transportation say the stray current poses no danger to such steel-reinforced concrete structures as freeway overpasses.
But because that issue has been raised by others, Metro recently asked TxDOT for permission to test steel in its bridge foundations at the Pierce Elevated, Southwest Freeway and South Loop. The three freeways pass over the rail system.
You go, Tom!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ stray current headache"> 05/22/06 07:27 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
19 November 2006
METRO: Don't worry about stray current
Local watchdog Tom Bazan has long been warning about the still-unresolved stray-current issues along METRO's Main Street light-rail line.
On Friday, KHOU-11's Jason Whiteley reported the latest on the problem:
Metro's light rail line is leaking electricty into the ground and has been for 18 months.
The problem is stray current is corrosive. And Bazan fears it's eating up the steel rods in the concrete foundation of the I-45 Pierce Elevated bridge.
Over time, Bazan believes the freeway could collapse.
"It's inevitable. If they don't cure the problem. It will collapse," he said. "I don't know when, but it will."
TXDOT told 11 News it hasn't checked the foundation of the Pierce Elevated. There's no need to, it says, unless engineers find evidence there's a problem. But Metro was concerned enough to ask if it could take a closer look itself.
Metro hasn't done that yet, but a spokeswoman said the public shouldn't worry about the leaking electricty. [sic]
If there's nothing to worry about, then METRO ought to be happy to perform testing ASAP and reassure the public by sharing information promptly.
The video version of the story (but not the text posted online) mentions that Centerpoint Energy has been concerned enough about the problem to replace some metal gas pipes (which are susceptible to stray current) with plastic pipes near the rail line. Their engineers must not have consulted METRO spokeswoman Raequel Roberts on the matter, or they would have known not to worry.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ stray current"> 11/19/06 09:42 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (4)
15 October 2007
Stray current and Richmond rail: An evolving story
Over at Lose an Eye, It's a Sport, Cory Crow notes an evolving story by Rad Sallee on Chron.com today.
Apparently, opponents of light rail on Richmond held a press conference earlier to criticize the possible placement of the Westpark light rail line (renamed the University Line, even though that description was nowhere to be found in the 2003 referendum) on Richmond because of stray-current concerns and a 66-inch water line that runs under the street.
The version of the story carrying a 12:36pm time stamp had the following headline:
Rail foes: stray current may harm water line
Later in the day, the story (with the same hyperlink) "evolved" with no warning to readers, and so did the headline. Here's what was posted at 3:35pm:
Metro disuptes rail foes' stray current claims
The spelling error has not been corrected in the latest version of the story, which carries a 5:41pm stamp.
As Crow observes, this probably should have been posted as two separate stories (with their own hyperlinks), since the headlines read almost like a point/counterpoint. The final, balanced story could have been prepared for tomorrow's print editions (and given yet another hyperlink). The Chronicle does some nice work in getting stories to the web quickly, but we have long thought that once a story is posted, any significant changes ought to come in a new story (much as print newspapers once had multiple editions).
On the substance of the claims, METRO really cannot deny that it has been unable to end the stray-current leakage along the Main Street rail line. METRO cannot deny the simple physics of stray current (which can corrode metal over time). METRO also cannot deny that the TMC report indicates that the problem will have to be monitored carefully for the life of the rail line on Main, because of the critical infrastructure in the area. And as Tom Bazan can attest, even getting METRO to produce documents related to stray-current after multiple public-information requests has not been easy (suggesting it is a topic METRO would prefer not to talk about).
Whether you think this relates at all to the infrastructure located along Richmond probably tracks closely with your preference for the placement of the Westpark rail line. That said, METRO's record with regard to stray current issues along the Main Street rail line certainly doesn't entitle the organization to the benefit of the doubt when their PR representatives say, "don't worry, we have considered it and it's not an issue" (or when they idiotically compare the stray-current issue to graffiti).
RELATED COVERAGE: KRIV-26.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Stray current and Richmond rail: An evolving story"> 10/15/07 07:07 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (7)
07 November 2006
Metro's stray current cost approaches $1 million
Tom Bazan keeps digging and Metro has been forced to release more details of its efforts to fix MetroRail's stray current problem. KTRH-740's Brent Fuller reports that the price tag keeps going up:
The Harris County Metropolitan Transit Authority first began repair work last year, after it was notified by Centerpoint Energy that some electricity was escaping from light rail conductors and leaking into the ground.
The problem, known as "stray current", is not a danger to the traveling public. However, sustained exposure to electrical charges can corrode both iron and concrete. In the August 17 letter to Siemens Transportation Systems, Metro said it had already spent $243,000 repairing anchors at rail bridges which had been damaged.
Metro officials have said they expect Siemens to pay for all testing, repairs, management and other costs racked up during the transit agency's stray current investigation. More than $917,000 has been spent from May 2005 to June 2006, according to Metro. Its unclear if Siemens has paid back any of that so far.
More repair costs are expected in the future. For instance, Metro told Siemens in the August 17 letter that an estimated $157,000 would be needed to fix 20 drainage installations along the rail line. The letter also indicated certain "thresholds" installed near the Pierce Elevated downtown would have to be dug up and reinstalled.
We certainly hope that any future light rail will address this problem in the planning stage and not in the post-construction stage.
DOCUMENT: August 17 METRO letter to Siemens (pdf).
Posted by Anne Linehan @ stray current cost approaches $1 million"> 11/07/06 04:43 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (12)
02 March 2006
TMC: Metro needs to fix "stray current" problem
Despite Metro's best (and continuous) efforts to downplay whatever-in-the-heck is going on underneath the Danger Train, the issue of "stray current" will not go away:
Electrical current escaping from the Metropolitan Transit Authority's light rail tracks is "very much a concern" for the Texas Medical Center, and Metro should fix it promptly, the head of the sprawling complex said this week.
"You need to know that the Texas Medical Center is uncomfortable. I'm uncomfortable, and a number of our institutions are uncomfortable," said Dr. Richard Wainerdi, TMC president and chief executive officer.
Metro responded in a statement, "During the past 10 months we have worked with various institutions at the TMC. We have no evidence of a problem, but if they do have any such evidence, bring it forward."
Metro, whose line runs along Fannin past several hospitals and doctors' buildings, has acknowledged since May that so-called "stray current" is escaping into the ground at several points on the tracks instead of returning to a power station by rail as intended.
Agency officials said in December that the problem had been corrected at two locations, the bridges over Brays and Buffalo bayous, but leakage persisted at several switches along the 7 1/2 -mile route.
If rails, bridges or switches are not well-insulated, electricity can escape and damage metal objects, such as pipes and structural steel nearby. Such damage is generally quite slow, but it often goes undetected.
"You can't tell if a pipe that's buried 20 feet under ground is corroded or not. How quick the corrosion is depends on a number of factors, but it ain't good, and it's irreversible," Wainerdi said. "It is not a small problem. It is a big problem," he said. "Get them to fix it. It's been going on three years."
[snip]
Steve Swinson, president of Thermal Energy Cooperative, which generates power for TMC, said the company's measurements show ground current increasing when MetroRail is operating. He said the agency has shared the information with Metro.
By all means, Metro should build more light rail!
PREVIOUSLY: MetroRail's "stray current" problem, TMC officials concerned about "stray current" damage
Posted by Anne Linehan @ stray current" problem"> 03/02/06 03:50 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (8)
27 June 2005
KTRH obtains draft report on Metro's "stray current" problem
We posted recently on Metro's "stray current" problem and how Metro is attempting to keep a draft report from the public, specifically from Tom Bazan who filed an open records request.
Well, it appears KTRH-740 has obtained the draft report, or at least a portion of it:
There's a "shocking" problem with Metro's Main Street train which officials are trying to keep hush-hush.
Electric current is apparently straying from Metro's overhead power lines and eating away at some nearby material, including metal rail anchors at bridges over Buffalo and Brays Bayous, six track switches and two concrete-paved areas along the rail line.
A draft report obtained by KTRH warns the stray current also has the potential to damage underground utilities.
At a board meeting last month, Metro CEO Frank Wilson estimated repair costs at nearly $3 million, but Metro Chairman David Wolff says they're not yet sure how big the problem may be.
The report notes Metro performed no "baseline" testing of electric current before it started running passenger rail service because it was in a hurry to get the line started. The authority says repairs to electrical damage at the two bayou bridges are underway, and there is no danger to the traveling public.
Now, why can KTRH get the report, but not Tom Bazan?
And isn't it ironic this story comes out on the same day Mayor White and Metro are trying to sell their $2 billion expansion plan to city council?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ stray current" problem"> 06/27/05 10:20 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
11 July 2007
Don't worry, trust METRO (or not)
KHOU-11's Jason Whitely reports that a private firm hired by the Texas Medical Center has found worrisome stray current levels related to METRO's Main Street light-rail line:
In an eight page executive summary of a report prepared by Corrpro for the Texas Medical Center, and reviewed by 11 News, experts discovered worrisome levels of stray current in the foundation walls of the Meyer Building, part of Texas Children’s Hospital, and the Thermal Energy Corporation’s piping system, which supplies water to the all of the hospitals and medical buildings.
Corrpro said these two facilities “had stray current effects sufficient to warrant continued surveillance to detect and respond to possible increases.”
Electricity can corrode the steel rebar enveloped in concrete which is used in foundations and over time could eventually compromise structures.
Inconsequential effects of the leaking current from the light rail line were found at Methodist Hospital, UT Medical School, St. Luke’s Medical Tower, Memorial Hermann Professional Building, Fannin Holcombe Garage, Ben Taub Hospital and Parking Lot E of the Meyer Building.
No stray current was detected in other areas at Texas Children’s Hospital, Memorial Hermann Hospital and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Prevention Center.
Over time, corrosion experts said, all of these facilities could see stray current levels increase.
“Transit system rail stray currents tend to increase as the system ages,” the report stated. Corrpro said the Texas Medical Center “should expect to continue a monitoring program for the life of the rail system.”
METRO's response, as reported by Whitely, is that only a few testing locations had stray current issues that warranted any concern whatsoever.
Previously, METRO's PR representative had assured that the problem posed no more concern than a nine-volt battery, an assessment apparently not shared by the professional engineers hired by the Medical Center to perform independent testing.
UPDATE: The Chronicle posts a catch-up story by Rad Sallee on the topic. The Froot Loops editor must have departed for the day, letting the actual news staff swing into action.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/11/07 12:20 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (9)
26 February 2007
METRO still hopes to collect from Siemens for stray current expenses
The Chronicle's Rad Sallee today reports METRO's response to a letter from Siemens (noted in this post from last week) rejecting METRO's insistence that the contractor reimburse METRO work related to the ongoing stray-current problem:
Despite receiving a refusal letter, Metro says it still intends to collect from the prime contractor on its MetroRail Red Line for the cost of efforts to prevent electrical current from leaking into the ground from the tracks.
In August, the Metropolitan Transit Authority billed Siemens Transportation Systems Inc. $917,400 for monitoring by Metro staff, pay to consultants and various tests related to the stray current problem from May 2005 to June 2006.
[snip]
As for who pays, Siemens spokeswoman Xanthi Pinkerton said, "Basically we are still in negotiations with Metro," and Metro spokeswoman Raequel Roberts said the talks "aren't even close to being final."
"To say they are not paying based on one letter is like calling a baseball game in the middle of the fifth inning," Roberts said.
Perhaps, but that letter from Siemens suggests that METRO is about as likely to receive full payment of $900,000 from the "bill" it sent Siemens as Wayne Graham's Rice Owls giving up a nine-run lead in the ninth inning to Sam Houston State! It's probably not going to happen (but if it does, we'll admit we were wrong).
Still, it's nice that the transit organization's PR pro could respond so rapidly to press/blog questions about that letter. It would be great if they could respond to public information requests so enthusiastically!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ stray current expenses"> 02/26/07 10:24 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (9)
09 June 2005
MetroRail's "stray current" problem
About a month ago, a Chronicle story told us about a potential MetroRail problem:
In a separate problem, Metro engineers say a small amount of "stray current" from the overhead wire that powers the trains is leaking into the ground at each switch location instead of flowing back through a rail a power station.
Metro says there is no danger, but a spokeswoman for CenterPoint Energy, which called the problem to Metro's attention, said the current could eventually corrode the company's underground gas and electric conduits.
Current was also detected at "anchors" on each end of the MetroRail bridges over Buffalo Bayou and Brays Bayou. These are crossbars that keep the tracks from moving as the bridges expand and contract with temperature changes.
Then a couple of weeks later we read this paragraph in a story about Metro funding:
Wilson also proposed spending $13 million to fix several flaws, including poor drainage that allowed stormwater to ruin 12 electrically operated track switches, and insulation gaps that allowed "stray current" from the rail power line to enter the ground, endangering buried utilities and other metal objects.
That prompted Tom Bazan to send an open records request to Metro seeking "all photographs, reports, memoranda, and field notes concerning Stray Current relative to the METRORail operation from January 1, 2001 to May 31, 2005."
Well, Metro's general counsel, Paula Alexander, sent Bazan a letter stating that Metro has requested an opinion from Texas AG Greg Abbott regarding Bazan's request. Interesting, huh?
Alexander also sent Bazan a copy of the letter she sent to the attorney general, and what stands out is that Metro appears to be compiling a report on the stray current problem and doesn't want to release it, saying in the letter to Abbott:
[...]there is ongoing internal debate in which alternative actions are under discussion, including discussions with legal counsel, for preparation of final recommendations that will impact contractor compliance and transit expansion. Freedom of discussion will be inhibited by public release of this document during the early stage of METRO's decision making. Furthermore, the report is a "draft" and consists of the drafter's opinions regarding the METRORail "Track-to-Earth Resistance" testing and recommendations to the policymakers at METRO.
The stray current problem could actually become quite an issue for Metro. Perhaps we'll see a local media outlet dig further into this story.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ stray current" problem"> 06/09/05 03:15 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (4)
04 December 2006
Metro: Well, okay, we might have a stray current problem
After all that hemming and hawing, stalling and pooh-poohing, Metro now admits there HAS been a rather significant stray current problem, and while Metro and Siemens are working to get it under control, there are still trouble spots (via the Chronicle's Rad Sallee):
The Metropolitan Transit Authority and its light-rail contractor have been working nights to find and fix the sites where stray electrical current is leaking into the ground from the tracks.
New tests show they've made progress, Metro said last week.
About 15 percent of the 7.5-mile line is losing current at levels that exceed the "very stringent" specifications in Metro's contract with Siemens Transportation Systems, said Bryan Pennington, the agency's vice president of planning, engineering and construction.
That compares with 45 percent of the line in April, and the level of leakage is now lower throughout its length, Pennington said.
He said the leakage poses no threat to the public but could cause damage to metal objects near the tracks in time if not corrected.
A map provided by Metro shows current leakage still exceeds contractual specifications at five segments of the line, all of which have track switches or crossovers.
By far the longest runs from Old Spanish Trail to Holcombe and includes the Texas Medical Center's Smith Lands parking lot, Metro's TMC Transit Center and the Fannin Street bridge over Brays Bayou.
Medical Center officials said recently that they and several hospitals on Fannin, where the tracks run, have hired a consultant to test for stray current in building foundations.
The second-longest segment with excessive current runs from Congress to the University of Houston-Downtown, the north end of the rail line.
It includes the Main Street bridge over Buffalo Bayou.
Short segments where the current remains a problem are at Hermann Park Station, Wheeler Station and from Webster to Pierce, near the Downtown Transit Center and Metro headquarters.
Pennington said it probably will take less than a year for leakage all along the line to be reduced to contractual levels.
Metro has been dealing with the problem since summer 2005 and working on it "intensively" — mostly at night — since April, he Pennington said.
Interestingly, a glance at our archives provides a hint at what prompted Metro to deal with the problem (apart from Centerpoint's discovery and Tom Bazan's persistence): the Texas Medical Center. In July of 2005, TMC officials first expressed concern about stray current running underneath the complex, and then this past March, TMC officials were more pointed in their criticism of Metro, saying that Metro needed to fix the problem promptly.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ stray current problem"> 12/04/06 11:05 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (10)
03 May 2008
Lunchtime with Frank
Mary Sit has posted the questions and answers from yesterday's lunchtime chat with METRO CEO Frank Wilson. Here are a few fun ones:
Q : If the rail running along Richmond and connecting Uof H, TSU and Richmond all the way west was a good idea, then why hasn't bus service been put on this route to show how valuable it would be.
A : Good suggestion. We might do it.
[snip]
Q : Why use split canopies at rail stops that leave part of the platform uncovered? When walking along the platform during a rainstorm (or even under the blazing summer sun), the uncovered gap is a nuisance.,
A : Careful design dictated that we cover the entry and exit ways to the rail cars and not the areas of the train that doesn't provide customer access. Yes, I am finding it hard to believe, as well, but that's what the METRO historians tell me.
I'll do my best to make sure that our new platforms have continuous shelters and people can stand wherever they choose while they wait to board our train.
[snip]
Q : Has any consideration been given to pressure washing the beautiful paving at the Metro Rail Stations? They are starting to look stained and dirty. Twice a year may help keep them from looking like NYC Subway stations.
A : I agree with you. But we already require our contractors to steam clean these stations approximately every two weeks. So we either need more steam or more cleaning.
Q : What is METRO's stance on the lawsuit filed yesterday by the Texas Medical Center regarding the stray current from the light rail?
A : We have been working with all the institutions and the utilities in the Medical Center area over the last three years. We have determined that there is no stray current problem, and the Medical Center itself through their own technical studies have determined that there's no stray current problem [not exactly, ed], that no building or utility sustained any damage as a result of stray current. Therefore, as you can imagine, we don't understand their lawsuit.
[snip]
Q : When will METRO hold a referendum to build rail to the suburbs?
A : It was done in 2003. The referendum in 2003 provided for rail into the suburbs.
And METRO disregarded the referendum and embarked on its own version of METRO Solutions!
As Kevin Whited once said regarding Chief Hurtt, "Every time that man opens his mouth, it's an adventure."
It works for Frank J. Wilson, too.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 05/03/08 12:49 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (4)
22 November 2006
Medical Center investigating "9-volt battery" leakage
Metro spokeswoman Raequel Roberts may not be concerned with stray current, but Texas Medical Center officials are concerned enough that the foundations of several hospitals and related buildings are being checked for damage (in a KHOU-11 follow-up story):
“The thing is it’s relentless,” said Stephen Swinson, President of Thermal Energy Corporation. “It’s like shore erosion. It’s like every day. Every wave.”
Since Metro revealed its electrical problem 18 months ago, the Texas Medical Center is conducting its first comprehensive test to see if hospital foundations are now in trouble.
Swinson and the Thermal Energy Corporation are leading this investigation for a number of clients in the Medical Center. He says tests show above average levels of stray current in the area when Metro’s light rail is in operation.
Over the last couple weeks Swinson says engineers have tested almost a dozen medical buildings including foundations of the Texas Children’s Hospital, Methodist Hospital, St. Luke’s Medical Tower, and the University of Texas Health Science Center among others.
“Today there’s not danger of a building collapsing,” Swinson said, “But is there going to be future significant cost associated with having to reinforce structural members and things like that? It’s a possibility.”
And then Roberts' dismissive quote is used again, about the electricity leakage being akin to what a 9-volt battery would discharge. Uh huh. If that were true, Centerpoint Energy wouldn't be spending money replacing metal pipes near the Danger Train line, and Metro wouldn't have already spent close to $1 million trying to determine the extent of the problem.
And now the TMC is having a look at its buildings' foundations.
PREVIOUSLY: TMC: Metro needs to fix "stray current" problem
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/22/06 04:35 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (11)
01 May 2008
Med Center tries to get METRO's attention on stray current
On Thursday, the Texas Medical Center filed a lawsuit against Metro for the potential damage of electrical current leaking from Metro's rail line.
It is a story 11 News has been covering for more than two years now. A study commissioned by the Texas Medical Center confirms that as Metro's electrical light rail line passes through the area, it is emitting a stray current that travels through the ground.
As that current reaches underground pipes and other metal, it can speed up corrosion.
In the case of the miles of high-pressure steam and the chiller pipes that cool the Medical Center buildings, corrosion is not a good thing.
"It's like waves eroding a beach,” said Stephen Swinson, of Thermal Energy. “Over time it’s just going to get worse and worse and worse. The alarm system should not be steam's blowing out of the ground.”
But two years into this dispute, the statute of limitations, and patience is running out.
No agreement on a solution or even on monitoring the potential problem has been ironed out with Metro.
So, the Texas Medical Center and the Thermal Energy Corporation filed a lawsuit asking a judge to force Metro to act.
[snip]
The suit does not ask for money. It asks that Metro agree to an annual monitoring program, and that they come up with a plan to eliminate or minimize the problem or current leakage.
This Friday, another Metro Chat is scheduled, and this time the topic is open. Maybe this will come up.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ stray current"> 05/01/08 06:33 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (10)
27 February 2006
Metro wishes you a Happy Monday! (updated)
via Chron.com:
Passengers riding MetroRail today should expect delays due to a broken water line at San Jacinto and Hermann Drive.
The water line break has washed out support under the track at that location and will require repairs past today's rush-hour service.
To avoid potential delays, Metro will be running double cars to handle extra passenger loads.
The only station affected by the break is the Museum District northbound platform. Passengers traveling northbound can get on and off the train at the Museum District southbound platform at Fannin and Binz.
No word on when normal service will be restored.
Random thought: I wonder how everything's going on the "stray current" front?
KEVIN WHITED ADDS (about 4:30 pm): I crossed the light rail line at Wentworth and San Jacinto on my way home just a while ago. Since the METRO "transit backbone" is operating on one line, the signals aren't functional. A METRO police officer was at the intersection stopping traffic manually when a train came by.
A METRO skeptic might conclude the "transit backbone" has a bad case of osteoporosis.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/27/06 06:15 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (5)
05 November 2007
Bazan responds to unusual broadside by Chron transportation columnist
The Houston Chronicle today ran an unusual broadside by transportation columnist Rad Sallee against a number of citizen activist/watchdog types who dare question METRO (and the ethically-challenged Frank Wilson), a task seemingly abdicated by the leadership of Sallee's newspaper years ago. Tom Bazan responded to Sallee's unusual broadside, and we're posting his comments below (since it seems unlikely the Chronicle plans to offer Bazan or other citizen activist/watchdog types named in the story any chance to respond in print).
To: Rad Sallee, et. al.,
There is the impression left by your column that I am or have been wrong in voicing my concerns and criticism of METRO and the electrified boondoggle legacy of Lee. P. Brown, named METRORail.
Stray Current:
FACT - The system was shoddily built, and not properly tested for stray current leakage prior to service start-up. It took three years, and a significant expenditure of taxpayer funds to identify and attempt to cure the sources of stray current leakage. The system still operates outside the design specifications. Stray current still exists, and no one knows the extent of cumulative damage to the infrastructure in the three years METRORail operated prior to the repairs and modifications, which has brought the stray current leakage down to where METRO claims is "manageable." No one at METRO can state the stray current leakage has been stopped, and that infrastructure will not be damaged in the future.
The industry forms Corrosion Committees, as METRO has, to manage the expense of future damage resulting from stray current. I am not convinced that there was NO cumulative damage, and that there is no danger of premature failure of city infrastructure and the 40+ year old substructures of the expressway bridges which span the METRORail.
I presented evidence of City-owned infrastructure damage, I contend from stray current corrosion, to the METRO board last month. From METRO's own stray current reports, there was a significant level of stray current detected in the vicinity of the Museum District platform situated on San Jacinto, just north of Hermann Drive. There was a premature failure of an 8-inch steel-reinforced concrete water line pipe, situated at San Jacinto and Herrman Drive, around February 26, 2006, which interrupted the METRORail operation. The city claims there was no record of any failure analysis of this pipeline. The intersection was rebuilt during the construction of METRORail, and infrastructure was being worked on in this vicinity around March of 2002. There was no contractor daily work report referencing that this pipeline was ever protected from stray current.
Regarding the recent speech made by Mr. Marcotte concerned FY2008, one might be curious if you asked Mr. Marcotte if the words "Stray Current" and METRO or, the corridor where METRORail operates, ever rolled off his lips during that presentation when the $2 million for corrosion control out of the CIP allocations was being discussed?
Is this the same Mr. Marcotte who was running the water system in Washington, D. C. back in 2004 when the EPA started enforcement action over unsafe levels of Lead in the drinking water? Didn't he claim he had no knowledge that the Lead levels were too high? This denial seemed reminiscent of the "I Know Nothing!" denial from the Sgt. Schultz character in the 1960's era TV Comedy series "Hogan's Heroes."
General Mobility Funds:
FACT: When I did sit down with the Mayor's staff, the first item mentioned was $44+ million which seemingly was not collected by the prior administration. Why did METRO refuse to disclose the information, seeking a TXOAG opinion so as to "stonewall" the information. According to the few documents "pried" from METRO, when compared with other agency documents, a huge discrepancy was observed. In my view $44 million is a huge amount.
The Mayor stated publicly that he had hired people to try and unravel METRO's financial statements and failed. There are still significant discrepancies that METRO will not explain in writing. Further, the City, also flush with sales tax revenue, does not seem to be anxious to invoice METRO for these funds. In April 2007, there was about $109 million unbilled, and that was reduced to $90+ million four months later. At that rate, METRO can sit on the GMP funds for years before distributing it, while METRO collects interest on the hoarded funds, and City taxpayers pay the project interest on the bonds.
Defeased Leases:
FACT: The actual data is detailed in the METRO annual financial statements, anyone who looks will likely be startled at the amount of payments, for decades! The facilities were already paid for, and METRO entered into these "finance" agreements so as to get a lump sum payment necessary to have enough cash to start building the METRORail boondoggle. Tax credits to investors still "short changes" federal taxpayers and are egregious!
The U.S. Congress BANNED the use of Defeased Leases by transit agencies in 2004.
=========
Excerpt from WSJ
Civic Duties
How Big Tax Shelter With Cities
Shortchanges Federal Treasury
Use of Sale, Leaseback Deals,
Worth Billions Each Year,
Is a Target of a New Bill
Chicago Sells Its 911 System
By JOHN D. MCKINNON
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 7, 2004:
"The essence of the deals -- which the Internal Revenue Service dubs SILO, for "sale in, lease out" -- is a sale of depreciation rights. If a city builds, say, a subway system, it can't deduct the cost from its income taxes over future years, for a simple reason: Cities don't owe income taxes. So the city sells the subway to someone who does.
The buyers, typically financial firms, then can depreciate the subway -- that is, deduct a portion of its cost from their income each year for several years running. In a final step, the buyers, having no use for a subway, immediately lease it back to the city. The terms of the deals are structured to leave the city with a packet of cash. (The city often conveys the property to the investors in a long-term lease, which is treated for tax purposes as a sale.)"
========
Might I suggest that each day that passes we learn that I was not wrong in my overall criticism of METRO, and I am confident the facts that emerge over time will support my contention that METRORail is an unsafe boondoggle.
-- Tom Bazan
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/05/07 10:27 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (6)
27 February 2008
Another example of Metro's "transparency"
Tom Bazan sent out a heads up today about an easy open records request he has made of METRO that is inexplicably being dragged out.
You'll recall last week's news that the Texas Medical Center was still looking into how the Main Street Rail Line's stray current was impacting its buildings. The Chronicle story explained that METRO President Frank J. Wilson has been authorized to "execute a tolling agreement":
The Metropolitan Transit Authority board has approved plans to negotiate with the Texas Medical Center to extend the time that it can sue Metro over "stray" electrical current leaking from the light rail tracks.
The item was described on Metro's monthly board agenda Thursday as authorizing President and CEO Frank Wilson to "execute a tolling agreement," causing some observers to think it was about planned high occupancy-toll lanes on the Katy Freeway.
Instead, as Medical Center President and CEO Richard Wainerdi explained, a tolling agreement "extends the time in which a party has a right to any kind of remedy or action" to recover damages in court.
"In this case, the law is two years," he said.
Tom requested a copy of the "tolling agreement." Today METRO replied:
Type of Request:
Requesting the tolling agreement between METRO and the Texas Medical Center.The Legal Department at METRO has received the above-referenced request. Please be advised that the requested records are in the process of being located. METRO has up to 10 business days to notify you of one (or more) of the below-referenced actions:
a)the requested records have been compiled and can be made available for inspection and/or copying;
b)additional time is needed in order to compile the requested records;
c)the cost to make the records available will be more than $40;
d) that METRO is requesting an Attorney General opinion with regard to your request;
e)that NO records were located.
You will receive a letter notifying you of one of the above-referenced actions (post-dated) by no later than:
3/11/2008[signed]
Jacqueline Maldonado, Paralegal
As Tom notes in his email, the tolling agreement was discussed in a board meeting just last week, and there's a local news story about the agreement. And yet, the records "are in the process of being located." How hard could it possibly be to locate a copy of the tolling agreement that was just the subject of a Chronicle story AND was the subject of a board meeting discussion?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/27/08 08:10 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (3)
15 June 2008
METRO's insanity
I thought these three opinions on METRO's current focus were worth highlighting. First up are two letters to the editor in today's Chronicle:
MARTA vs. Metro
Councilman Peter Brown is against any delay in the Metro light rail vote, saying we are "woefully behind Atlanta." (Please see "Amid concerns, council delays rail line vote," Page B2, Thursday.) Has he ever ridden Atlanta's rail system (called MARTA)?If we had a system like MARTA, we wouldn't have a majority of Houstonians against our own rail system. MARTA is grade separated, so it doesn't stop for every red light, and never has street accidents. MARTA has real train stations, where you actually use a ticket for entry, instead of Metro's "honor system." MARTA has built parking garages at many stations, so commuters can drive to the closest station, park and ride to downtown. How many of us would like to use Metro light rail, but there is nowhere to park near a station? And most importantly, MARTA runs from the suburbs through downtown and to the airport.
In most cities, residents fight to get the rail system to come to their neighborhood. In Houston, we fight to keep it out. And this won't change until Metro realizes street-level rail will never work.
STUART FELDMAN
HoustonDanger of currents
On Wednesday I earnestly asked City Council to deny Metro consent to build rail on Richmond Avenue because of the 66-inch high-pressure waterline that lies beneath 2.6 miles of Richmond Avenue, from Wheeler Station to Cummins and beyond. There is no question that the water line would be subject to stray currents produced by the rail line above it. The steel pipe cannot be fully protected from stray electrical currents, nor can it be properly inspected with the rail line built on top of it.
During Wednesday's City Council meeting, we witnessed the remarkable appearance of Dr. Richard Wainerdi, president of the Texas Medical Center. Wainerdi graduated from the University of Oklahoma in engineering, and then took a masters and a doctorate in engineering from Penn State. Wainerdi stated he was speaking as a "professional engineer.
The Medical Center is concerned about stray electrical current eating away at their building foundations near the rail line, but they are beyond anxious about stray current opening up "pinhole leaks" in the enormous system of high-pressure steam pipes that form the backbone of the Medical Center's heating and air-conditioning capabilities.
Wainerdi pointed out that if a pinhole leak developed in a high-pressure steam pipe, it would burst with a catastrophic blast, probably injuring or killing people nearby. Even more devastating, it would mean immediate loss of heating or cooling in the entire Medical Center, where "there are at least 800 babies in bassinets at all times." It would make the Medical Center uninhabitable for 150,000 employees, patients and staff. Wainerdi said that for such a failure not to occur under the circumstance of stray current from the rail line, "you have to repeal the laws of physics."
What does this have to do with Richmond Avenue? Everything. The source of the stray current is the same: the electric rail that Metro intends to build on top of 2.6 miles of high-pressure steel pipe. And the effects of that stray current on the Richmond pipe would result in precisely the catas-trophic failure and blast of the pipe that the Texas Medical Center is so anxious to avoid.
Metro and the city of Houston Engineering Department are untruthful when they state that stray current will be contained on Richmond Avenue and proper inspections of the pipeline can be achieved. How do you inspect 2.6 miles of pipeline through a few manholes placed along the route? Stray current is highly unpredictable; it can cause a pinhole leak at any point along the entire pipeline.
I urge City Council not to let Metro build on Richmond, but move the rail back to West-park, where it already owns the right of way, and where none of these problems exist.
CHRISTIAN N.SEGER
Houston
I don't recall any local media stories highlighting Dr. Wainerdi's appearance before City Council last week, but because of a busy week, it's entirely possible I missed it.
Secondly, Kevin highlighted this post by Lou Minatti last week, which translated some METRO spin for us. In response to a commenter, Lou Minatti posted a comment that nicely sums up what many of us think:
So clue me in: How does Metro's light rail plan remove cars from the roads, other than via collisions? The Red Line is a charade, and the numbers Metro touts are due to the fact that TMC employees use it to get from remote parking lots to their offices. (It's handy during Rodeo time, though.)
Hands up: How many of you will be riding light rail once it's expanded out to Hillcroft and out to the east side? That's what I thought.
Light rail in low-density cities like Houston, Atlanta and Dallas is not about moving as many people as efficiently as possible from work to home to play, it is about the city promoting land development. They think that by running light rail along certain corridors that people will naturally want to live work and play along these corridors. Well, that's great for monied DINKs with $300k townhouses and condos. The city also thinks that's great because of the additional property taxes. Meanwhile, it doesn't get one single person in Sugar Land, Katy, Woodlands, Pasadena or west Houston off the road. The light rail lines benefit a tiny handful of inner-loop residents (and property developers) at the expense of all of us. You 1 million people up along FM 1960, do you enjoy paying your 1 percent Metro sales tax despite having NO SERVICE WHATSOEVER?
The only thing I would add is that there is bus service along FM 1960 between Kuykendahl and SH 249. I've been meaning to take pictures of all the bus stops along that westbound stretch to highlight how METRO treats the folks who have to ride the 86. Generally speaking, the bus stops consist of a METRO sign and a small square of concrete. One or two have benches, and a couple have trash receptacles. None has a mural covered shelter. About the only shelter any of these bus stops have is a nearby tree or the overhang of a nearby business.
But hey! I'll bet inner loop residents will enjoy their new light rail stations.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/15/08 08:06 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (8)
05 March 2009
Ready-Fire-Aim: METRO board approves rail contract nobody else has seen
METRO's board has unanimously approved the big rail contract that the public was not allowed to see or debate before the big vote yesterday and which, they contend, was still being negotiated right up to the vote (ready-fire-aim!).
Rosanna Ruiz's coverage for the Chronicle is here.
Instead of offering our opinion, we're gonna throw this one open to readers. What do you think about METRO's $1.46 billion deal (and the gazillion jobs that METRO says it will create)?
Okay, we'll offer one little bit of opinion -- here's hoping these projects turn out better than the Main Street line, with its fine record of collisions (with cars, people, and even wheelchairs), ongoing stray current problems and water art turned to eyesore (photo via Michael Berry). Because a lot of your money is at stake.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/05/09 09:00 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (7)
27 February 2006
If there's nothing to hide....
Local watchdog and blogHOUSTON commenter Tom Bazan gets a little attention from the Chronicle's Rad Sallee today:
MetroRail critic Tom Bazan filed an open records request to find out whether the Pierce Elevated overpass had been damaged by stray current from Metro's light rail tracks.
Now, ironically, statutes whose supposed purpose is safety have blocked that search. The Chronicle is seeking related information.
An opinion Thursday from the Texas Attorney General's office says federal law exempts TxDOT from disclosing information gathered for "identifying, evaluating or planning the safety enhancement of potential accident sites, hazardous roadway conditions or railway-highway crossings."
[snip]
Metro revealed the leakage after learning about it from CenterPoint Energy, which has underground power lines near the tracks. Bazan said he wants to know if the current has corroded structural steel in the overpass columns where the tracks cross three freeways, and in buildings along the route.
Officials of TxDOT, Metro and the Texas Medical Center say they know of no such damage. Metro acknowledges that the leakage eventually could harm underground wiring and other nearby objects but says the problem has been mostly corrected.
Nothing to see here. Move along now. Trust the government bureaucracy that chooses to hide information from the people. After all, the problem is mostly corrected!
BLOGVERSATION: Lone Star Times.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/27/06 11:08 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (8)
23 February 2008
Of failed federal guidelines and 9-volt batteries
Poor METRO. How many years has the Main Street Rail line been running, and still we are learning how poorly constructed it was:
Every year - in either March, April or May - METRO tests our 7.5-mile railroad track with a device called a track geometry vehicle.
This machine glides along the rails and employs ultrasonic testing to discover cracks or other flaws. It will detect warps, gage issues, curves, elevations and speed limitations, says Scott Grogan, senior director of rail operations.
"The most recent testing resulted in a permanent speed restriction of 15 mph, implemented at old Main northbound," said Grogan. Geometry testing revealed that the curve at Fannin and old Main did not meet the federal guidelines for allowable speed at that curve because of the elevation of the outside rail. That curve met the federal criteria for a Class 1 speed of 15 mph.
"It should have been 15 mph from the get-go," said Grogan.
Better late than never to figure that out, eh?
And Rad Sallee has an update on The Medical Center's battle with METRO over stray current:
Metro maintains that the current has caused no damage to structures along the 7.5-mile route. However, Metro and Siemens have repaired bridge anchors and other track facilities where corrosion was found or current leakage was unacceptably high.
A report by a Medical Center consultant, Corrpro, based on monitoring 161 locations at 13 facilities in the medical complex in 2006-2007, found three with current high enough to deserve continued monitoring. Two sites were underground pipes and the third was the Meyer Building of Texas Children's Hospital, 1919 Braeswood at Greenbriar, which houses administrative offices.
Who knew a 9-volt battery could wreak such havoc?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 02/23/08 05:15 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (3)
15 April 2007
METRO sits and spins recent news stories
Two news items this week gave METRO an opportunity to try to shape views via its $76,622 Sit and Spin blog.
As Rad Sallee reported for the Chronicle, Richmond rail opponent Daphne Scarborough has filed suit against METRO:
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/15/07 10:13 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (2)
17 May 2008
METRO violates Clean Water Act
Well, it appears Mayor White needs to go after METRO:
The Clean Water Act is designed to clean up our waters.
Thousands of people pass through METRO Transit Centers every day, but 11 News discovered that what they’re leaving behind could end up in Galveston Bay.
One of the act’s guidelines says you must prevent dirty water from going down storm drains. Regularly scheduled pressure washing goes on at all 19 METRO transit centers throughout the county.
“It was our understanding we were in compliance,” METRO spokeswoman Raequel Roberts said.
But 11 News uncovered they aren’t in compliance.
“The rules really require us to take all available measures to protect the water around us, and the storm sewer system is how all the water gets to the bayou,” Deputy Director of Public Works Andy Icken said.
Here’s one way you can do it: Collect the potentially contaminated water.
Think it’s a lot of work for nothing? Think again. There are high levels of oil, grease, metals and bacteria polluting Galveston Bay.
Galveston Bay is the second most productive estuary for seafood in the country.
Woops! Raequel Roberts (who famously said stray current leakage was akin to what a 9-volt battery discharges) first says METRO thought it was in compliance, but later in the story says, "Now we have a better idea of exactly what is needed to follow the regulations, and we’re going to do that." Which essentially means METRO couldn't have thought it was in compliance because that would have meant METRO had done its homework, and METRO would have known what it was doing was in violation of the Clean Water Act.
Mayor White needs to get on this. This has to be right up there with refinery pollution.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 05/17/08 05:05 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
20 June 2005
Will the Chronicle hold METRO to the same standard as TXDOT?
The Chronicle editorial board today urges TXDOT to release documents various media outlets have requested under freedom of information laws:
The Houston Chronicle filed a freedom of information request with the Texas Department of Transportation seeking secret provisions of a state contract with a Spanish consortium to build and operate the Trans-Texas Corridor, a web of tolled transitways across the state.
In response, officials from TxDOT and the consortium, Cintra-Zachry, appealed to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to allow them to withhold the documents from the Chronicle and other newspapers that filed requests. Even after a sweeping rejection of the claims in an opinion from Abbott on May 31, TxDOT officials are considering going to court to prevent the release of the information.
The public has a right to know on what terms a consortium is being given a contract to build and operate toll roads in the state for the next 50 years.
That doesn't seem objectionable.
Locally, our own transit organization (METRO) has been stonewalling Tom Bazan's requests for their documentation on the light-rail's stray-current problems. Will the Chronicle editorial board hold METRO to the same standard, and pressure the organization to release that information to the public (and to elected officials like Rep. Culberson, who must weigh METRO's funding requests)?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/20/05 09:04 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (0)
11 February 2008
KHOU: METRO, City close to Richmond/utilities consent agreement
Back in October 2007, Richmond-rail opponents held a press conference to raise concerns over a water main located under Richmond, and the problem that might result if the proposed Richmond line were to have the same stray-current issues as the Main Street line. METRO and even one public works official downplayed the concerns.
We haven't heard much about this topic lately, which is why this snippet from a KHOU-11 story by Lee McGuire tonight caught my eye:
Under Richmond, there’s a 60 inch high-pressure water main.
There’s also a 12-inch gas line.
Metro says neither would be affected by a rail line, but city leaders have worried if they ever broke, there’d be no way to repair them.
Now sources close to the negotiations tell 11 News the two sides are close to a so-called consent agreement.
It would involve Metro moving the gas line and giving the city access if the water line ever needed repairs.
If the water line ever needs repairs, it's going to be a mess for METRO's "transit backbone" (which doesn't much like water).
Presumably, this is a topic that will be taken up by City Council's Transportation, Infrastructure and Aviation Committee tomorrow. Here's the agenda:
AGENDA
February 12, 2008
10:00 a.m.
City Council Chambers
901 Bagby, 2nd Floor
Houston, TexasI. Welcome – Council Member Sue Lovell, Chair
II. Discussion of the METRO Consent Agreement
III. Public CommentsAction may be taken on any of the above items. For special needs or information about this committee, please contact Ryan Leach 713-247-2013.
Perhaps the local media should cover this meeting. It sounds kind of important.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/11/08 10:08 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
17 August 2009
King: Raise the rail in the Med Center
In Sunday's Chronicle, area businessman and former Kemah Mayor Bill King described problems with the rail line in The Medical Center area with which blogHOUSTON readers are very familiar:
- An at-grade alignment in a dense automobile and foot traffic corridor that has led to numerous accidents.
- Confusing signs and lights providing directions.
- Stray current problems that will have to be monitored for the life of the light rail, and may require millions of dollars' worth of rehabilitation to prevent catastrophic structural failures.
King's solution?
Elevate the rail, at least in the Med Center and other dense areas.
As King concedes, paying for such a good idea is the problem. Elevating the rail can drive two to five times higher, according to King. "Despite Metro's multiple groundbreaking ceremonies," he writes, "federal funds have yet to be approved in amounts sufficient to actually construct any portion of the rail line."
King suggests one possible solution is federal "Fixed Guideway Rehabilitation" funding, which could provide up to 80% of the cost of elevating the rail line by the time plans were ready, which could drive the overall cost to METRO and area taxpayers down to amounts that might be required to mitigate stray-current issues anyway.
The entire op-ed is here. Please go give it a good read.
We have friends in the rail debate who argue it's important for Houston to move forward on rail as quickly as possible to set a precedent, however poor the plan, and fix any disastrous consequences later once a "rail culture" has taken hold. We have other friends in the debate who argue that rail is not a cost-effective solution for Houston because of the city's density, and that existing and future rail plans should simply be scrapped.
We take a position somewhere in the middle. Our friend Tory Gattis has argued that a rail network that connects Houston's major job centers/universities makes some sense. And that argument resonates to the extent that most serious people understand such a system needs to be aimed at future growth and needs (10, even 20 years down the road), since it's hard to argue we have the population density at the moment to support that kind of system. In reality, we have just enough density in certain areas to create more traffic nightmares if we continue laying rail down busy streets. That's why we should be talking about grade-separated rail (especially in denser areas) and connecting job centers inside the loop, with a view towards Houston's future growth. The next phase following construction of a well-planned, inner-city network would be enhancing commuter options (Park and Ride, commuter rail, and the like) -- since it doesn't make much sense to enhance those options if your transit organization can't get patrons to job centers effectively once they are inside the loop. Airports would be dead last on my list, given the distance involved, the cost, and the lack of immediate benefit to local taxpayers.
Obviously, constructing that sort of system would cost much more money than voters contemplated in the 2003 referendum (aspects of which METRO has disregarded anyway), and it shouldn't be undertaken without a robust, honest* debate over costs and benefits long-term -- and a vote. Unfortunately, we don't tend to have those sorts of debates over transit in Houston. And that's why Bill King's comparatively modest proposal likely didn't generate much more than a "harrumph" from Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson and METRO's acolytes.
* For example, we are tired of reading METRO claims that the next phase of light-rail expansion will create 60,000 jobs.
Photo of Med Center light rail/traffic sign from my personal flickr collection. Photo of a Chicago EL train by flickr user celikins, used via a Creative Commons license.
UPDATE (08/20/09): And here is the official "harrumph," in the form of a letter to the Chronicle, which we are reposting in its entirety due to the unreliability of Chron archives and the fact this is a statement from a public official:
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/17/09 09:08 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (8)
10 March 2009
At least the METRO blog's comments are entertaining
We previously noted that METRO's vice-president of PR something-or-another (sorry, we aren't going to look it up -- blogger's prerogative) Raequel Roberts sent a letter to the Chronicle expressing displeasure with the newspaper's recent coverage of METRO.
Apparently, the letter was edited to save space (or perhaps as a courtesy, to save the eyes and brain cells of readers), so METRO's expensive blogger posted the overly long, overly defensive letter in its full, umm, glory on the transit/land-development organization's blog.
That prompted some interesting comments from one reader of the blog. Since few people read METRO's very expensive taxpayer-funded blog (but many people read our small, privately funded blog), we thought we'd reproduce Don G's comments here:
Rosanna Ruiz was apparently correct in her statement about using the trip planner. It flunked my several attempts when I placed my house address and Ben Taub for a trip tomorrow. It correctly inserted my total address and after selecting the correct choice for Ben Taub, it inserted that data. I then clicked on the "Get Trip Plan" button and zip, natta, nothing happened. All it did was refresh the screen.
Prior attempts (before I read the story) required me to tell it the intersections where a bus might be.
What "SHOULD" happen is for it to tell you first, how far you have to walk and an estimated walk time, followed by the scheduled trips and the walk at the other end.
I seriously doubt Metro will every do that because it would show you how long it's going to take from your door step to the destination door step.
and
I use the Net all the time to locate and get to places.
I just now decided to try the Goggle Transit deal and lo and behold, it provided me with directions, total distance and the total travel time!
Of course...that was NOT using 'public transit'!
It showed me that to get from Beaujolais Lane (with exact address entered) to Maroneal :ane (with exact address entered) as a 15.7 mile trip taking 28 minutes.
Now, when I changed it to 'public transit' with the exact same parameters (and I used tomorrow morning at 8 AM BTW) it gave me this glorious statement:
"Sorry, we don't have transit schedule data for a trip from 1359 Beaujolais Ln, Houston, Texas 77077 to 2508 Maroneal St, Houston, Texas 77030 at the time and date you specified."
Now I want to ask, who should we believe? Metro spokeswoman Raequel Roberts who has a vested interest in selling Metro as a gospel? Or should we accept Rosanna Ruiz,who tried it and surely is a skilled user of the net?
Metro continually seems to sell puff stories rather than providing truth to the tax payers who make it what it is.
Remember, Raequel is the one who compared stray current to a nine volt battery1 Insanely depressing comment that time.
PS: I even tried Raequel's address...to my same destination and it worked PERFECTLY for car but failed to recognize public transit. And, FYI, her address failed also using their own "trip planner"
I would like for Mary to tell Raequel to write a apology correction to the Houston Chronicle to be published as a Letter to the Editor as well as a letter of apology to the author.
We won't be holding our breath for that to happen!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/10/09 09:30 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (0)
26 August 2009
Just when you think the local newspaper is dead... (updated)
We have to admit that the Chronicle has surprised us.
We thought they had largely given up on the watchdog journalism business (in favor of the user-submitted party photo online business), and suddenly *BAM* three provocative stories.
Here are links and excerpts:
- Overhaul of mall prompts lawsuit (Nancy Sarnoff and Bradley Olson, Houston Chronicle)
Mayor Bill White, who has been personally engaged in the effort to redevelop the mall, said his counsel to TIRZ board members has been that they should resign at the point they become serious about submitting their own proposals for development plans to avoid “the appearance of impropriety.”
Memo to watchdog journalists: Follow up. Dig deeper.
- Metro light rail tactic raises funding concerns (Carolyn Feibel, Houston Chronicle)
“By Metro not putting these bonds in place the taxpayer is potentially liable,” said Peter Brown, a Houston City Council member and mayoral candidate. “We do these for every major project at the city of Houston. Metro has been planning the light rail project for a long time, and if they needed to find protection for the taxpayers through another means they should have taken that up with the Legislature this past session.”
We eagerly await the "Me too!" from the other candidates. However, perhaps Gene Locke, as a METRO legal eagle, will have a different perspective from the others! That would be a change of pace.
Psst... local media... that's a cue for you to ask followup questions of the mayoral candidates.
Psst... everyone else.... Please comment with your thoughts on Frank Wilson's financing schemes.
- Metro and Med Center settle lawsuit over stray current (Carolyn Feibel, Houston Chronicle)
The two institutions agreed that the Metropolitan Transit Authority will pay for annual testing around the tracks for 10 years, followed by tests every three years for another 10 years. Metro will not pay any damages now but could have to repair any problems revealed by future tests.
“If we test at a certain location and we determine that the rail operation is the source, we will remediate,” said Pauline Higgins, Metro's senior vice president and general counsel.
THAT is some clumsy writing. But as above, psst.... memo to watchdog journalists: Follow up. Dig deeper.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/26/09 10:45 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
01 June 2008
New METRO service "improvements" begin today
METRO has posted a new listing of service changes effective June 1st -- today!
Just because METRO no longer calls them "service improvements" doesn't mean we can't continue to relive METRO's PR department's glory days, although some might argue that with a spokeswoman who likens stray current to a 9-volt battery, we are still in the PR department's glory days. But I digress.
Click "Read More" to see the latest improvements:
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/01/08 12:37 PM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Comments (4)
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